


Happy Three Years

by Danesincry



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: All is a basic same timeline/universe, Escape, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Killers and Survivors actually get along outside of the trials, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Really Character Death, One Big Happy Family, Sweet, They cry, They have no way to tell time, Three Year Anniversary, but with different pairings, read all notes, the dwight/jake meg/claudette are in the same basic thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-14 15:21:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19276018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danesincry/pseuds/Danesincry
Summary: Three years is a long time.The Entity wouldn't want them to miss out on the celebration of their lives.(A small celebration fic based around jake/Dwight and Meg/Claudette. There is a chapter for the main pair, the killers, and the survivors. Ft. them escaping and Dwight/David.)





	1. Sweet Beginnings (Dwight/Jake)

**Author's Note:**

> So the Dwake, Megdette, survivor celebration, killer celebration, and duo celebration are the important ones.

Dwight sat quietly at the campfire like he normally did while waiting for the others to come back. Multiple trials were going on at once and it felt like they were talking forever. The only things Dwight could do was gnaw on his fingers and hope that they all make it out alive.

Dwight glanced around the campfire and took in who was there. Over time, more and more survivors had appeared, making the group 17. Laurie, Ace, Feng, Quentin, Adam, Jake, Jane, and Ash all sat around with Dwight. Meg, David, Bill, and Nea were all together in one trial while Claudette, Jake, David, and Kate were in another together. 

The air around the campfire crackled, alerting the others that the survivors were coming back. They all got up, ready to catch anyone that passes out or falls. Slowly, the survivors all came running out of thin air from the woods. Dwight braced himself as he caught Jake.

“Woah there.” Dwight whispered as Jake trembled for a few seconds in his arms. The effect of coming back from trials made some of them sick or weak. It made them all wonder if that was truly their prize for winning.

“H-hey, I found something.” Jake mumbled as he seemed to collect himself and pull back. Dwight perked up at this. Normally Jake just flashed whatever he grabbed from the trial and put it in his stash of objects. They all had their own personal stashes and no one dared to mess with each other unless they wanted to be killed in their sleep. It has happened before and they just came back. The Entity didn’t like it.

“What is it?” Dwight watched as Jake pulled out a small firecracker. It was a singular tube with a fuse. Dwight frowned at it. They had a different type of firecrackers. They were rare but he had never seen one of these. He was the first survivor to appear, he would know. “What…?”

“The Entity named it Party Starter or something like that.” Jake moved it around in his hand. “Claudette has one too.”

Dwight looked to see the botanist messing with her own. He could see Meg looking at one also.

“Is there something special going on?” Dwight frowned. 

“Don’t know.” Jake shrugged and turned to his pockets. He pulled out a small pouch. “Want to see if we can get one from the Web?” 

Dwight nodded and followed Jake over to a small clearing by their campfire. They sat down and small tokens appeared around them. Jake’s bloodweb. The original four had higher webs than the others. They had more experience, more currency to get more things. Jake looked across the web and picked up an available token from the web.

“Gruesome Gateau?” Jake mumbles in confusion. He picks up enough points to buy it and threw it into the web. The web consumed it and moved to spread out for more options. “That is new.”

“What does it do?” Dwight asked. Jake turned the small token over and read it.

“It’s a cake that gives everyone in the trial, including the killer, 103% more points.” Jake looks back up to Dwight, a look in his eyes. The look looks lost and like he wanted to cry almost. So many emotions bottled up in one look. “It says happy three years. From the Entity.”

“Three years…?” Dwight felt like the world had been sucked from him again. Stolen again from him. It had been three years in this hell with nothing to show for it.

Dwight felt tears swell up in his eyes and he brought his hands up to look at them. They were shaking badly. Jake’s gloved hands slowly came up and they carefully took hold of Dwight’s hands.

“Dwight.” Jake leaned towards Dwight, snapping him out of the panic that was washing over the Leader. “Calm down.”

Jake had leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. Dwight could feel the slight grime from Jake’s head from where he sweat and probably got a face full of dirt during the trial. Dwight didn’t mind. He loved the connection.

Dwight took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Jake reached one hand up to place on Dwight’s cheek. He placed a small kiss on Dwight’s nose. Jake knew that Dwight was the first to appear in the forest. He was thrown directly into some type of tutorial looking thing. He just… appeared and was forced to do a generator. He faced The Trapper, the first killer to present in front of a survivor. Jake knew how much Dwight despised this place, how much it pained Dwight to see others, one after another, appear out of the mist.

“We’ll get out. It might not be now, or another three years. But we will make it.” Jake’s comforting words washed over Dwight as they slipped into a hug. Jake looked over Dwight’s shoulder to see Laurie and Feng standing in the forest line, watching quietly. They slowly nodded, understanding what was going on and left the two. Jake closed his eyes and hugged Dwight closer.

“Happy Three Years, Dwight.”


	2. Hold Me In The Dark (Meg/Claudette)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part Two.

“It’s been three years.” Meg’s voice was oddly soft, and it shocked Claudette out of her thoughts.

The two had wandered off into the woods after Jake and Dwight went off to the Bloodweb. They wanted to celebrate by themselves, away from the others. Jake and Dwight would eventually meet back up with them to probably celebrate a bit more. Right now, they just wanted to reflect.

Claudette had appeared 30 minutes after Dwight did. She dropped next to a generator and something told her to just touch it and try to fix it. She then met Dwight, who was hurt and trying to run from the monster behind him. They managed to get away and Claudette patched him up enough to get more generators done.

Then Meg appeared. She ran right into The Trapper and got hooked. Claudette almost cried as she had to lift the poor girl off of the hook. It didn’t take Jake long to appear next to them out of nowhere, seemingly ready to repair. He did it very well.

After they had managed to escape the trial barely, they were brought to a campfire. The Entity had come down and somehow got her point across to them. They knew from then on that they wouldn’t be able to escape. They could only hope to escape the Killers and not face the wrath of the spider looking Deity that kept them as pets. The Entity took care of them, as well as she could over the years.

And so the four of them created bonds. A pact. They worked the best together. About a year in (or what they thought was a year) they met other survivors. More killers. By then they knew the game, knew their killers. They had created bonds with the killers that they knew. Meg and Claudette fell in love just like Jake and Dwight did.

The two girls stopped in a clear patch and sat their items down. They just brought some small food that the Entity had given them and one of the firecrackers. They sat down and slowly ate their food.

“I never thought we would be here for this long.” Meg spoke towards the woods, barely looking at Claudette. “I remember you pulling me off of that first hook. I was… terrified.”

Claudette remembers the terror in the loud and boisterous girl’s eyes. Meg seemed petrified and it took a second for her to be snapped out of her shocked state. Claudette remembers it because it plays in her endless dreams.

“I remember that.” Claudette offers a small smile as Meg looks back to her. “I remember you crying also when we got back.”

“You have no proof of that. The others won’t believe you.” Meg gave a small laugh that slowly turned to tears. “I… was terrified. My mom…”

“We all are worried about our families.” Claudette puts her hand over Meg’s, grasping it. “My friends and family… I had a cat at my mom’s house. I think about them all the time.”

“Do you think… it’s been the same time out there?” Meg asked quietly.

“I don’t know. But I would spend eternity in here, with you, Meg.” Claudette placed a kiss on the runner’s forehead. “Now, let’s see how good this firecracker is.”

Meg seemed to light up at that and took the firecracker in her hand.

“Entity, I hope you made this a good one.” Meg helped Claudette up, pulling her up with the strength that Claudette forgot they all had.

The two stood, hand in hand as Meg raised the firecracker. She threw the stick onto the ground and watched as it magically lit. It gave a small show and a puff of confetti. It looked pretty.

“I love you, Meg.” Claudette snaked her arm around Meg’s waist, leaning into the redhead.

“I love you too, Claud.” Meg kissed Claudette’s head.


	3. Misery Loves Company (Killers)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan MacMillan was a family person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but I'm soft for the Killers having their own thoughts and emotions.

Evan looked down at the cake that sat in front of him.

The cake was hideous, not that he would say it out loud, but edible.

“Is that from Her?” Sally’s voice was raspy from behind her cloth mask.

“Yes.” Evan nodded. He looked up to see Philip and Max Jr standing to the side. The other killers hovered in the background, interested in the cake that appeared. They had food from here and there, mainly offerings from the Bloodweb that She had let them get bites from. But they never had full amounts of food to themselves.

“What is it for?” Max Jr asked. His voice was strained from years of unuse. 

“Three years, She said. She told me that we had been good and that we deserved something to celebrate also.” Evan informed. 

It was common knowledge to the others that Sally, Philip, Max Jr, and Evan were the originals. Evan was the very first to be taken and then once the survivors escaped the others were placed with him to explain. She, the Entity, had taken a liking to Evan. She called him her baby. 

“We’ve been here for three years…” Sally approached the cake and sat down next to Evan, her feet touching the ground in a rare moment. She slowly took her cloth mask off and the other killers realized this was personal and left. Max Jr looked to Philip, who just nodded and moved to sit next to them. Max Jr followed after a moment of hesitation.

If Evan was to describe them, he would call them his new family. They had erased the memories of his past life, of his Father’s control. The three of them were a product of their environment and they all understood each other the most. Sally acted like a mother (when Anna and Lisa wasn’t smothering them), taking care of them with soft words. She tended to whatever wounds they had managed to get from the survivors or accidents. Philip was quiet. He would just watch after them and try to help perfect their attacks. Max Jr… was like a child. They all tried to keep him safe from any of the more dangerous killers. He was unloved and seemed to try to get any love he could once he relaxed. They taught him that family doesn’t have to be blood.

And Evan… he tied them all together. He tried to act like a brother that just wanted the best. He wanted a family that wasn’t going to get him hurt.

Sally’s mask was put to the side, revealing her strawberry blonde hair that curled around her face. It was rare to see her with her mask off. Her light blue eyes shone in the light from the cake’s candles. She was gorgeous. 

Slowly Evan slipped his own mask off. His hair was shaved before he was taken, so his hair wouldn’t grow in the Realm. Evan liked to believe he had decent looks if you looked past the scars on his face.

Philip and Max Jr didn’t have masks. Somehow when Philip was taken, he was corrupted and burnt. He once drew them what he looked like (did you know he liked to draw?) and it was rather dashing. The Entity thought it would be fun to change the man’s looks. He was apparently too attractive for her liking. Max Jr was adorable in Evan’s opinion. The disformed part of his face didn’t make him look bad. People are just rude.

Evan slowly picked up the knife he was given and cut the cake. He handed them all slices of the cake. He grimaced at the odd look but bit into his piece anyways. It wasn’t too bad.

“To three years.” Evan said once he swallowed.

“To three years.” Sally and Max Jr echoed, lifting up parts of their cake. Philip followed, but didn’t voice it.

Evan would do anything to keep his family.


	4. Car Radio (Survivors)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The constellation Ursa Minor, the little bear, is visible in the northern hemisphere all year long. It is a circumpolar constellation, which means it is visible all night as it rotates around the north celestial pole. Ursa Minor is one of the 48 constellations identified by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. Its name means “lesser bear” in Latin. It is an ancient constellation with roots in many cultures. To the ancient Babylonians it was known as the Wagon of Heaven. In Greek mythology, this constellation was associated with two different myths. In one, it represented Ida and her sister Adrasteia, the nymphs who took care of Zeus on the island of Crete when he was small. Zeus rewarded them by placing them in the heavens. In another, it represented Arcas, who was the son of Zeus and the nymph Callisto. Arcas and his mother were transformed into bears and placed in the night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final celebration before they escape.
> 
> **Fun fact, the constellation that Jake is looking at is Ursa Minor.**

“Three years…” Laurie whispered to herself as she watched Jake pick up a cake from his stash. It looked disgusting in her opinion, but the food was food. Not like they needed it, but they liked food.

Claudette looked up from her stash next to Laurie. Her hand was around a firecracker that looked odd.

“Three years blended into eternity.” Claudette replied. “I can’t count the days that don’t exist, but I wouldn’t believe that She would lie to us.” 

Claudette then stood up and Laurie felt bad. Laurie herself was an older survivor, but she wasn’t an original. She knew that it was after the first anniversary that they were brought in. There was never a second anniversary. Just silence from Her. Laurie knew she wouldn’t be able to understand what it must have felt to be so lonely for so long. To only have three others to keep you sane.

Claudette quickly moved back to the original group, sitting down next to Dwight and Meg. Jake sat across from her.

“Now that we’re all here.” Dwight smiled at them. “I would like to toast to the three years we have survived. It’s been hard. I love you three to death.”

The others smiled and raised their hands like they held glasses, clinking the imaginary glasses together.

“To three years.” They all said in unison.

The cake was dry, but it didn’t matter. They all sat in the woods together, enjoying the small peace they had. Together they threw their firecrackers and watched the confetti as it flew in the wind.

“Imagine if we could see the sun again.” Claudette spoke quietly as they sat down again. Slowly they all laid down. She stared up at the eternal night sky longingly. “I want to see clouds again. To reach up to something other than the endless sky.”

Jake reached up, spreading his fingers as he stared through them. He could see constellations that he once memorized as a kid. The names of them blurred in the back of his mind, now forgotten and muddled up like someone had sprayed water onto a chalk drawing. 

“What is the end? What is death?” Jake asked.

“Death is release. Death is moving on. Cycling.” Dwight answered. “What we go through isn’t dying.”

“What is it then?” Meg didn’t look at him. She kept staring up at the inky darkness. The only light being pinpricks and the forever full moon.

“What She calls it. Sacrifice.” Dwight closed his eyes, not wanting to look up. “Death would be us leaving this place. I’ve long accepted that death here isn’t an escape. Just... sacrifice.”

Silence spread between them after that. Meg’s eyes flickered from constellation to constellation. Her life was more or less the same when she was actually alive. Here… she feels the same sometimes. But they make her feel alive. Like this isn’t just some hell to torture her for her wrogn doings. They’re her family. Her life.

Meg sat up, making the others do so, leaning on her arms for support to watch Meg. Tears gathered in her eyes as she turned to them.

“I love you three so much.” Meg started to cry and she pulled the three of them into a hug. Slowly, Dwight and Meg fell into the tears and joined her.

“I love you too.” Dwight cried into her shoulder. Behind him he could feel Jake shake in a small release of a sob.

They all sat there in silence, crying away the pain of three years. 

Three years of hell.


	5. Freedom Tastes Bittersweet (Escape)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Entity decides to free them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I uh,,, watched the 2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street and I want to have a small resolve and talk about Freddy and Quentin.
> 
> Basically, about a year after the 2010 remake, Quentin was taken. The Entity revived Kruger and put him in the Killer roster. Quentin hated Kruger and tried to escape as much as he could from him, to the point he would literally hook himself. After the Entity saw how much of a damage Kruger was on Quentin she eventually stopped putting them in trials together. Kruger kinda just... calmed down a lot and would just pester Quentin like he was a child. But nothing bad. Quentin hates the Preschool map with a passion, but not as much as Kruger.
> 
> Quentin escaped him three times now, and he is gonna give his final peace to the killer. Once a killer is taken into the Realm, it changes them. You can see that by any of their backstories. Especially Susie (she was originally shy and not that great with this thing). So Kruger just became a sarcastic asshole. Once they left, they basically turned somewhat normal but some kept their alt personalities.
> 
>  **If you are sensitive to mentions of r/pe please do not read after the point Quentin freaks out when he is touched on the shoulder to the next bold point. He talks about what happens in the movies.** There is still a bit of violence after it, but he mentions that.

Dwight was shocked awake from his sleep, a scream rising from his burning throat. Pain ripped through his body as it felt like he was being ripped apart. Tears flooded down his face as he twisted on the forest ground. Leaves crunched under his face, scratching him as they broke.

Once the pain dulled down, Dwight had to even his breathing out. He slowly pushed himself up from where he lay on the forest ground and looked around. He quickly realized that the world around him was light, but not from a campfire.

The sun.

“JAKE?!” Dwight screamed out as he looked around quickly for his boyfriend. He stood up completely, wincing at the pain all over his body, and turned around a few times.

It hit him then, that he wasn’t in the Entity’s realm at all. The trees were different. After living for years with a botanist and in the same place you would recognize the trees that you lived next to.

Dwight’s feet stumbled forward, barely keeping him up as his body screamed in pain. He could hear quiet talking near him and he turned towards it.

“Did you hear that?” The voice was female.

Claudette?

Meg?

“Claudette? Meg? Is that you?” Dwight called out. “Nea? Laurie? Feng? Guys! Kate! Jane!”

His legs felt like they were on FIRE as they carried him towards the voices.

“PLEASE! Answer me, guys!” Dwight cried out.

He was then met with a clearing. A camp clearing.

A tent was set up in the middle and there was a man and woman standing by their tent. Dwight didn’t recognize them. Wait… he didn’t recognize them.

“Wh- you’re not…?” Dwight stumbled forward and fell to his knees.

“Oh my God, are you okay?!” The woman cried out and ran towards Dwight.

Dwight looked down to see his blood soaked white button up. It had years worth of blood and dirt caked into it. Holes from being hooked showed disgusting scars that Dwight now realized were healed and in fact there.

“What year is it?” Dwight asked as the lady caught his falling body. 

“2019. What year do you think it is?” She asked. Her boyfriend… friend… guy grabbed a medkit and ran up.

“2014…?” That was the year that Dwight disappeared.

“Oh my God, Chelsea that’s the guy that disappeared in 2014. He’s from the cases of disappearing people in woods. There’s a whole story about them on the news.” The guy said.

“Wh-” Dwight coughed up blood and the man quickly opened the kit. The action made his head spin. “What do you mean?”

“People from different time periods are appearing again. They’ve been appearing in the woods they disappeared in. It’s been happening for over a year now. The first man to appear made a list of people. Everyone has been correct.” Chelsea informed. “They all have the same scars and injuries. No one knows why or how…”

“She returned us…” Dwight let out a small laugh. “I’m free finally. I can die happily.”

The two panicked as Dwight then promptly passed out.

-

Dwight woke up in a hospital two weeks later.

When his eyes opened, he was greeted with the face of Jake.

“Baby, why are you so close. And why is it so bright? Did we roll to the fire?” Dwight grumbled and smiled up to Jake.

“No…” Jake backed away slightly. Dwight let out a small groan as he tried to move.

“Mr. Fairfield, you’ve been missing for five years. Mr. Park here has been gone for two years.” A new voice spoke from the side.

Dwight panicked as he didn’t recognize the voice.

“Who- where am I? Missing? I’ve been at the Trials-” Dwight tried to move his limbs, only to find that they were attached to wires.

“Dwight, we escaped. You stumbled into a couple and collapsed.” Jake's gloved hands placed themselves onto Dwight's face, pulling him back to reality.

He remembers that. The girl and the man with the medkit. He wasn't in the Realm anymore.

With a deep breath Dwight looked to Jake. He looked the exact same as he did during the trials.

“Jake… did we escape?” Dwight asked.

“We did.” Jake nods.

“So you two do in fact know each other. Mr. Ashley was telling the truth.” A new said. Dwight looked over Jake's shoulder to see a police officer standing next to the doctor. “How can 17 people go missing from different timepoints and then appear within a year with the same injuries and stories?”

“Mr. Fairfield here was the longest one out and with the most severe injuries. We would say that he was the one to be in the longest if it wasn't for some of the others being from different times.” The doctor informed. “We believe whatever happened to them are all connected.”

“Well, once Mr. Fairfield is cleared I would like to talk to him. Alone.” The officer's words seemed to be pointed towards Jake, who was glaring holes into the officer.

“I can do it now.” Dwight offered. Jake turned to look at Dwight, as if to tell him he was crazy. “Jake, I'm fine. She's gone. They can't hurt us.”

Jake just sighed and kissed Dwight's forehead. 

“I'll be outside.” Jake whispered before leaving the room with the doctor. The officer moved to sit next to Dwight once the door closed.

“Mr. Fairfield, my name is Officer Jenning. I want you to tell me the truth. Tell me what happened from the beginning.” Jenning spoke calmly. He didn't give off any bad energy.

“I… went out drinking with my boss and coworkers on a Friday night in the woods. My boss, Mike Daring, made homemade moonshine. I knew that this was just another opportunity for my boss to bone his secretary and cheat on his wife, but I didn't care and went to enjoy Lila’s company. She needed a break from her girlfriend and life, and I had ears.” Dwight told truthfully from what he could remember. “It's been so long… three years really takes your memory. But we all got ass drunk and I passed out. I woke up alone in the morning, but I didn't realize it at first but I wasn't in the same woods. And it wasn't morning.”

“What woods did you wake up in?” Jenning asked.

“I don’t know. I can tell you they were cypress trees though. Like the ones in Florida. Claudette taught me that. They're big trees with the knees poking up.” Dwight scratched at the corner of his nail, trying to rip the nail. “We called it The Realm. I know some of the places within the Realm had forest names. They all had names. Uhm… the Red Forest was one of the maps.”

“Maps?” Jenning frowned. “And what do you mean Realm?”

“She kept us at a campfire. She would take four of us at a time to play a game. I never saw where the Killers stayed, but I know the maps correlated. But the maps… they were the trial grounds. There was probably five versions per Killer?” Dwight squinted as his head hurt. “My favorite was the MacMillan Estate or Haddonfield. They're easy. The Red Forest had a nice temple.” 

“You were being held in recreations of famous murder sites?” Jenning asked. “And the killers were there?”

“Only the trials took place there. And yeah. She took them also. She wanted a game, so She took her toys and forced us.” Dwight sighed. “It was hell. Do you know how many times I was forced onto a meat hook? Hit in the back with weapons?”

“I wouldn't know if your buddies didn't tell me.” Jenning wrote things down. “Now… everyone was telling me that you were the first to be taken and faced against a monster. They all mentioned a She, but never a name for her. Did you ever see her?”

“Me, Meg, Claudette, and Jake saw her. Not fully, but we saw her legs and arms. We called her the Spider God because of how they looked." Dwight felt tired.

“Her name?” Jenning asked.

“The Entity. Her name was The Entity. She took us all from our lives, Killer and Survivor, and forced us to play cat and mouse. Death wasn't an escape.” Dwight couldn't see the scribbles on paper but he knew he they called him crazy. “She told us that the four or us were trapped for three years. We don't know why she decided to free all of us, though.”

“Thank you, Mr. Fairfield. Once you are cleared you will be released. We will stay in contact until the case is closed.” Jenning then left, and Jake came back in to be there when Dwight fell asleep.

-

Evan was shocked awake in a same style. A scream ripped from him and he panicked as a bird landed next to him.

He quickly shot up and looked around. He was at his family's estate, but it seemed to be just a farm now. No mines. No deaths.

Evan looked down to himself to see the scars of the three years inside of the Realm scattered across his shoulders. His metal was gone and so was his weapon and mask. That mask that She gave him. His token of terror.

Slowly, Evan got up and wandered to the main house. He knocked on the door and waited. A woman opened the door and her eyes widened.

“May… I help you? Are you alright there, Sir?” Her accent was a thick southern one that everyone had back in the day. It reminded him of home.

“Is this… the MacMillan Estate?” Evan asked.

“It is. I'm Elizabeth MacMillan. I inherited this from my father Charles. He owned it after his cousin and uncle killed all of those people.” She answered. Evan remembered Charles. A nice city boy who loved to visit before Father went crazy. “Who are you?”

“I… am Evan MacMillan.” Evan spoke truthfully. “My father forced me to kill those people. And I was taken be someone.”

Elizabeth's eyes widened in realization.

“Oh my… oh my God.” She took a step back.

“I won’t hurt you. I promise. I just want to know what year it is.” Evan sighed. “I've been gone for so long… She kept us all for too long.”

“2019. Evan, who took you?” Elizabeth opened the door more. “Come on in.”

Evan walked in and accepted the clothes and food that Elizabeth offered him. He explained what he went through to his cousin's child and took in the changes of the world. The TV ran in the background quietly. It had been 30 years since he went missing. 30 years that he lost.

“The final person on the Forest List had been found. A young man by the name of Dwight Fairfield who had been missing for five years. Authorities say that he is in the worst condition out of the 17 survivors.” The news in the background caught Evan's attention as a picture of Dwight came up. The picture was of him with two college friends. He looked happy and clean.

“What… happened with them?” Evan pointed to the TV.

“The Forest List?” Elizabeth looked to the TV. “A man who was missing for about 10 years suddenly woke up in the woods. He was rushed to the hospital after he was found. They asked him what happened and he gave them a list of 16 others in order. He said they were all taken and forced into some type of trials. The thing is that they're all taken from different years. He said the longest people stuck in was for three years, and it was the original four who were in there for that long. He also made another list but it was never released. They said it was for police use only. His list slowly came true over the year. Mr. Fairfield was the final man.”

Evan silently watched the TV as it showed Dwight be ushered out of the hospital by his family and three others. Evan recognized them as Meg, Jake, and Claudette. They looked clean and better than they did in the Realm. Evan looked back to Elizabeth, who was staring at him.

“Evan, the police came to the estate. Everyone thought you died years ago with your father. But here you are, looking no older than you did when you disappeared.” Elizabeth frowned at him. “They said you were on the list that the man made. The police list. Are you involved?”

“I was.” Evan nodded. He expected this from her. “I was taken by Her just like the rest of them. I told you I was taken and forced to harm people. She took people who didn’t deserve it into Her games. She took children. She took adults. She took the abused.”

Elizabeth watched as Evan tensed up, trying not to let his emotions get the worst of him. He had so much hatred towards The Entity. Evan remembers the first time he tried to go against Her. The pain he endured to try and get them all out. He was Her original. Her test. Their leader.

Evan was their leader.

His eyes widened as he realized that. If they were released about the same time as their respective survivors, then maybe the killers were too. They knew the name of Evan’s home. Everyone did. They could be here somewhere.

“Elizabeth.” Evan looked at her straight on. “Who else is here?”

Elizabeth slowly smiled at Evan. She stood up and motioned for Evan to follow. Evan got up and followed.

“Earlier this year after the third Forest List woke up, I had a knock at my door. I opened the door to see a man and woman with four teenagers with them. I thought they were a family at first. Well, you can call them that. But they were dressed oddly. I let them in and explained to me that they knew you. They explained their story. All of them besides the man were terrified. The woman barely spoke English, but the others could speak to her.” Elizabeth lead Evan up the stairs. Evan forgot how large the estate truly was over the years. The Entity couldn’t perfectly replicate things, but she tried her best.

Elizabeth opened the door and stepped back. Evan walked towards the door and stepped in. He was introduced to a room full of faces that he’s known for years. But they looked more… human. Normal.

“Evan!” A voice, which he recognized as Susie, called out and a small body collided with him, hugging onto him with all of her might. About four more collided with him. He looked down to recognize the Legion and Rin, who was in one piece and looked alive, hugging him.

“Hello, children.” Evan gave a small pat to each of their heads, giving them loving smiles. Evan looked up to see Philip, Max Jr, and Sally moving towards him.

“Hello, Evan.” Sally smiled. “Welcome home.”

“Welcome home.” Evan replied. He felt so many emotions rolling through him. They all looked so normal and happy. His family was home and safe.

-

Dwight had a hard time coming back from the Realm.

He would jump at any noises and would have phantom pains in his back. He would hear something tick and panic would rush through him, his hands flying up to his head to feel the reverse bear trap, only to find nothing there. Sometimes he would hear a simple chime and jump, or the screaming of a child and go on edge. 

The world welcomed him back and listened to him and the others as they told their stories. Some labeled them as crazy. Some said that the government had been testing on them and finally released them. It ran Dwight up the wall to hear people hate on him for what he had been through. What the 17 of them had been through. They had no idea what it felt like to be hung on a hook. Left to die when it wasn’t possible to be saved. What it felt like to have your mind split.

Some of the survivors had people to go back to, who experienced the same horrors that their killer had put them through. Quentin had Nancy, who fully validated them and cried when Quentin came back to their hometown. Tapp had his partners from his Police Unit. Laurie had her family and the grown up children that experienced Myres with her. The rest of them had just their families and friends. Bill didn’t even have a family to go back to. He didn’t want to go back. He just feared of what happened to his friends, basically family, during the apocalypse. 

People also tried to ask Bill what happens in his future, but he never told them. Only the Survivors would know. Thankfully it only happens in a small part of the country and gets quarantined. 

Dwight was living in the city that all of the decided to move to, just to escape their old life and the expectations of them. They also felt safe with each other in a close distance. He was doing great. He lived with Jake, much to the Park Family’s distaste, and lived next to Claudette and Meg. Everything felt okay. After a few months, they all were getting better. They all had scars of the hooks and weapons, but scars heal. They were all healing together.

It wasn’t until Dwight had gone down to get his mail that everything had become skewed again.

Dwight carried his mail back up the stairs to his small shared apartment. He flipped through the envelopes and packages in his hand. He opened his apartment with one hand and threw the bills on top of his coffee table. He dropped onto the couch and held the large manila folder that had his attention.

“To Dwight Fairfield” It addressed on the front. There was only a street address for the return address, much to his dismay.

“What do you have?” Jake asked as he sat on the small rocking chair they had.

“I don’t know. It’s to me, though.” Dwight replied as he opened up the large envelope and pulled out multiple folders. The first one he opened had the face of a man he didn’t recognize.

“Danny “Jed Olsen” Johnson. Wanted for the killings of the Woodsboro High students and the murders of the Florida State University students.” Dwight read out loud. He flipped through the pages but stopped when it got to the evidence. It was a picture of a ghost face mask. Dwight’s hands shook and he moved to the next folder quickly. The next one was a picture of stories and historical documents of a High Priestess, Adiris, who went missing after exiling her self to save her people from the Plague. He quickly opened the next folder. The four faces of 17 year olds were printed with names next to them.

“Frank Morrison, Julie Richards, Susie Evans, Joey Harley. Missing after supposedly killing a janitor and leaving him at the Ormond Resort. Their group wore masks and called themselves the Legion in the small town of Ormond.” Dwight looked up from the faces of innocent looking teenagers to see Jake frozen in his seat, staring wide eyed. “Jake these are the killers.”

“Are they all there?” Jake asked. Dwight looked down and called out who he saw, noting their normal looking faces and case files.

“Rin Yamaoka, Kenneth “Jeffery Hawk” Chase, Amanda Young, Fred Krueger, Bubba Sawyer, Anna Romanoff, Herman Carter, Lisa Sherwood, Michael Myres, Sally Smithson, Max Thompson Jr, Philip Ojomo, and Evan MacMillan.” Dwight’s hands were shaking. “They’re all here. All with their stories and real faces.”

Jake moved over to take the files and take in the faces of the horrors that were actual people. Some not even bad people. The files told of Rin dying to her father's hands, Adiris tried to save her people, Sally just wanted to treat children. It made Jake feel sick, because in the end they were also victims of Her.

Dwight picked up paper that was sticking out of the envelope and read it out loud, catching Jake’s attention.

“Dear, Mr. Fairfield. My name is Elizabeth MacMillan.I am the current owner of the MacMillan Estate. As you know, it was once owned by Evan MacMillan and his father. Evan would follow his father’s orders to kill those miners before he was taken by the Entity. You know Evan as The Trapper. As you and the others were released from Her hold, so were they. At my Estate I house all of them. They are now normal people. No powers, no intention to kill. I would like to invite you and the others to my estate to face the people who were forced to hunt you. I can promise that the ones that do have a taste for blood will act in line. Sincerely, Elizabeth and Evan MacMillan.”

Dwight sat down the letter and covered his face with his hands. He didn’t want to face them. Jake’s hand placed itself on Dwight’s back and rubbed it slowly. 

“I’ll tell the others.” Jake quietly told Dwight before getting up to get his phone.

Dwight slowly uncovered his face and picked the large envelope back up. He read the address again and sighed. It wasn’t too far from where they lived. Maybe an hour. He had no idea they all decided to live near the MacMillan Estate. The original one.

While Jake was contacting the others, Dwight picked up the files again and slowly looked through them. Not all of the Survivors knew their respective Killer. It seemed like Tapp, Quentin, and Laurie actually knew theirs, if not just by meeting but personally. 

_“I don’t want to talk about him. What I know about him is sick and he deserved what happened to him. I thought… I never thought he would have survived me and Nancy ending him.”_ Quentin told them when they asked about Krueger. He seemed badly shaken the second he was faced with the killer. It was enough to snap him awake, but only the first time. The Entity seemed to take pity on Quentin and barely paired them.

 _“He’s my brother. I was born right as he was taken away. He knew of me, but had never met me. He killed our sister, Judith. I was put up for adoption. I think… in his own way he wanted to protect me from the world. My friends. In 1978… He hurt me. But I don’t think he wanted to kill me.”_ Laurie spoke softly. _“I look into that mask and sometimes I still see a little boy trapped. He’s only in his twenties and I’m only 19. But I can tell he still sees me as a baby and him a small child.”_

 _“Amanda Young had Stockholm Syndrome. She found parental love from an insane man who tried to make her into another him. She was misguided and a victim. Now… she is something else.”_ Tapp told them of the horrors Amanda did. How twisted the Pig was. It all felt surreal.

Dwight watched videos of Quentin and Nancy meeting for the first time in years. Amanda had a fiance and a new life. He had been gone for years, like the rest of them. The two ran at each other and Quentin cried in her arms. It was heartbreaking. Dwight knew that Quentin wouldn’t bring Nancy to see the horror from their childhood.

Jake came back in the room and turned his phone off. Dwight looked up.

“They all agreed. They need closure.” Jake informed. Dwight nodded and looked down.

They all did. Killers and Survivors.

-

Dwight leaned into Dwight as they stood at the front of the group. They walked up the path to the estate quietly, the large house coming into view. The house, unlike in the Realm, was inside of a large field surrounded by a forest and trails leading to the mines and different areas. As they approached the house, they could see figures running around. It looked like five teenagers running around a larger one, four others sitting to the side watching. As they approached, they realized who it was.

The Legion and Spirit were running around the Huntress as they all rough housed, trying to take down the Huntress. The Hillbilly, Hag, Trapper, and an unknown woman watched from the porch. As they approached, the woman turned to look at them, she smiled at them and nudged Evan. Evan looked to them and the others noticed. The pink haired girl, Susie as Dwight remembered, gasped loudly.

“They’re here!” Her voice shrilled and her first instinct was to run towards them. The survivors tensed up as she sprinted over.

“Susie!” Julie yelled out for her, warning in her tone. Susie ignored her friend to jump onto David, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. David blinked in surprise and wrapped his arms around the small girl.

“Hi! Welcome to the Estate! We’ve been waiting for you!” Susie babbled. “You were always my favorite! You were always so nice and questioned why I was so young!”

That seemed to be directed to David, who was awkwardly hugging the bubbly teenager. The other Legion walked up to join their friend, the Huntress close behind. The Huntress looked to Dwight, and smiled. She had always favorited Dwight over the rest for some reason.

“Hello, child.” Anna put a hand on Dwight’s head. Dwight offered a small smile and called her what he knew she wanted to be called.

“Hello, Mother.” Dwight still feared the woman, but over time she had called him child and had expressed how much she wanted children. She saw them as her family, whether or not she had to kill them or not. He read her file and it made sense.

Behind them came Max Jr, Lisa, Evan, and the woman.

“My name is Elizabeth MacMillan. I own the Estate.” The woman was the first to introduce herself. “I know who you are, and I assume you know them all by name by now.”

“We do.” Claudette offered a shaky smile. “Are you sure it is okay for this…?”

“We all know that most of them don’t have bloodlust, but some of them…” Dwight trailed off also.

“Ah, they’re being watched closely.” Evan informed them. Rin came up next to him and looked at them all. She looked like a normal Japanese girl. Alive and healthy. 

“Hello, I am very sorry.” Her English wasn’t the best, but she was trying.”

“It’s okay.” Adam stepped forward. He was her survivor. They locked eyes before Rin ran up and hugged him. She spoke to him in Japanese, which Adam nodded in response. They all knew that Adam spoke in broken Japanese, not knowing the language that well but enough to understand. It wasn’t like Feng, who was taught English before she was taken.

“Let’s go inside.” Elizabeth offered.

“Please.” Dwight smiled.

They all followed Elizabeth into the house. As they walked in, the others came into view. They all stared at each other, taking in the sight of the other group before the staring contest was broken by Laurie. Laurie ran towards a blonde with long hair. He had a big build and his left eye was scarred. It was Michael Myres. He held out his arms and Laurie ran into them. Laurie said something to the silent killer and he just nodded in reply.

“When did he ever take off his mask?” Meg asked next to Dwight.

“He actually sometimes took it off around us. We convinced him to take it off.” Philip spoke up. “Same with Bubba. Everyone decided they wanted to be… normal.”

A small snort came from Amanda, who rolled her eyes.

“Michael also found some of his humanity again.” Sally explained as she slowly put her blonde hair into a bun.

A cocky looking man stepped forward, his black heavy duty boots making small thuds as he approached the group. He decided to go to Dwight. He was their leader in the Realm, so it made sense.

“My name is Danny.” He grinned and held out his hand to shake. This was Ghostface. The killer that took to killing in the Realm the easiest. He was the most willing.

Dwight hesitated before shaking it. It seemed to make the man pleased. 

“It’s nice to meet you. It’s nice to meet you all properly.” Dwight swallowed his fear as he looked across the group. They looked more normal now. Harmless.

That seemed to break the ice, allowing the others to go and talk to the killers. Actually interact with them. Let the killers apologize for everything. Some of them started to cry on both sides. Dwight watched as the groups mixed. People started to forgive each other. But then Dwight saw Quentin standing to the side, trying to slowly move through them all. He then saw Kruger following him. Once the Nightmare caught up with the insomniac, he put a clawed hand on his shoulder. This pulled an immediate response from Quentin.

“Don’t you FUCKING touch me!” Quentin screamed at the killer. The noise in the room automatically stopped to stare at the two. Quentin was shaking, looking like he was about to hyperventilate. “Don’t.”

“Quentin…?” Susie spoke softly from next to him. The Legion were the ones that always seemed to take an interest in Quentin the most, other than the Nightmare. David, Jake, and Dwight were the closest to him from the survivors.

“I killed you.” Quentin wasn’t looking directly at Kruger, but his shaking hand was pointing at him. “I fucking KILLED you. Me and Nancy made sure of it.”

“Kid, you can’t kill what's already dead.” Kruger’s tone was almost full of humor.

“You deserve to stay dead. She shouldn’t have brought you back.” Quentin moved back from him. “Fuck you. Fuck you and what you did. I fucking hate you.”

“Quentin.” Susie said again and put a hand on his arm. Quentin flinched at the contact.

“I fought for my life before that Realm.” Quentin was crying now. “Me and Nancy went through all of that. The harassment and the truth. We almost lost our life because of you. It was your fault they did that to you.”

“What are you talking about?” Sally asked and moved towards them. Evan, Philip, and Michael moved towards them, watching the two.

“He worked as a gardener at my preschool. He lived in that basement. There’s a small cave under it. He brought the class down and… did bad things. He molested those kids. Our parents chased him down when they found out. They burned him alive. Then he came back when we were older. He tried to kill us in our sleep. He blamed it on us.” Quentin was full on crying now. “Me and Nancy were the only ones to survive. And you know what, I still hate you for that. You’re in my world now, you fucker.”

 **Kruger seemed to recognize that** phrase because he took a step back as Quentin moved to reach into his pocket. He brought out a pistol and aimed it at the burnt man.

“Nancy gave me this.” Quentin told Kruger. The others seemed to step back. They all did bad things, but they realized that Kruger was something else. He wasn’t in their rank.”She told me to give you a gift from both of us. For killing everyone. For doing what you did when we were kids. For her mom.”

“Don’t do this, kid.” Kruger tried.

“Let’s play a game.” Quentin smiled. “Since you liked to do that.”

“What’s the game?” Kruger asked. He looked to the others for help, but no one said anything.

“It’s called fuck you.” Quentin then should him twice in the chest. The Nightmare fell down and gasped for air. 

The silence stretched across the group as they watched Quentin drop the gun and break down into tears. Susie and David moved to hug him. Quentin accepted it and moved back away from him.

“He got what he deserved.” Philip said as he motioned for Evan to help him pick up their dying comrade. Ex comrade. Evan helped pick him up.

“We’ll burn him out back. He shouldn’t come back.” Evan told them as they brought the dying Nightmare out. Once the door closed, Sally and Anna moved to help Elizabeth clean up.

“Well, fucking hell.” Bill grumbled from near Bubba. “Who knew that’s actually what happened between them. No wonder the kid was scared shitless.”

The group moved to help clean before they all decided to eat and spend just… normal time together.

Dwight didn’t know that they’d be so easy to accept apologies from the killers. They all had their scars and problems, not going near some of the killers more than the others. It made Dwight’s skin crawl slightly, but he pushed it down. He knew in the end they wouldn’t do it again. He was safe now. They were all forced into the same situation as the survivors were.

“Are you okay?” Evan asked Dwight once he could.

“Yeah…” Dwight answered. “I mean, not entirely. But now I am.”

Evan seemed to accept it as he nodded. Then Evan offered a hug. Dwight stared at him before accepting it.

“I’m so sorry, Dwight.” Evan whispered. 

“It’s okay. I forgive you.” Dwight whispered back.


End file.
